The Last Words Of Marcus Aurelius | Practice Letting Go
The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic | Wondery
4.6 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 November 2022
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
It’s one of the most haunting paintings you’ll ever see. More than 11 feet wide and 8 feet tall, painted in rich but dark oils, Eugene Delacroix (a student of the Stoics) captures Marcus Aurelius at the end of his life. A plague has devastated Rome. His troubled son stands in the wings, unlikely to rule well. Marcus has had a hard life, filled with adversity, not meeting, as one historian noted, “with the good fortune he deserved.”
Yet he strived to do right and to be good. He escaped “imperialization” in his words, avoided being “Caesarified” and dyed purple by the power of his position. He kept the faith, kept the empire going, doing his best. And now, weak and frail, the end was here. He knew, as he would say to his bodyguard, that the sun was setting.
To learn more about the life of Marcus Aurelius, pick up this in-depth biography of the man in Lives of the Stoics, which is included in the new leather bound edition of the Gregory Hays translation of Meditations.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast. |
| 0:05.7 | Each day we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics, illustrated with stories |
| 0:11.0 | from history, current events, and literature to help you be better at what you do. |
| 0:16.0 | And at the beginning of the week, we try to do a deeper dive, setting a kind of Stoic |
| 0:20.0 | intention for the week, something to meditate on, something to think on, something to leave |
| 0:25.0 | you with, to journal about whatever it is you happen to be doing. |
| 0:28.8 | So let's get into it. |
| 0:31.1 | Hey, prime members. |
| 0:38.0 | You can listen to the Daily Stoic Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. |
| 0:42.5 | Download the app today. |
| 0:47.4 | The last words of Marcus Arelius. |
| 0:51.4 | It's one of the most haunting paintings you'll ever see. |
| 0:55.0 | More than 11 feet wide and 8 feet tall painted in rich but dark oils, Eugene Delacua, a student |
| 1:01.7 | of the Stoics, captures Marcus Arelius at the end of his life. |
| 1:05.8 | A plague has devastated Rome. |
| 1:07.6 | His troubled son stands in the wings unlikely to rule well. |
| 1:11.7 | Marcus has had a hard life filled with adversity, not meeting as one historian noted, with |
| 1:17.2 | the good fortune he deserved. |
| 1:19.1 | Yet he strive to do right and to be good. |
| 1:21.8 | He escaped imperialization in his words, avoided being cesarified and died purple by the |
| 1:27.2 | power of his position. |
| 1:29.1 | He kept the faith, kept his empire going, doing his best. |
... |
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